July 02, 2012

The SUMMER VACATION of Jay/Day

A few days ago, I shut down Jay/Day. I received many nice notes. But one thing that concerned me is that many people though I was ill.

C'mon, people. I'm only 61 and except for arthritis (which you all have if you are over 25) I'm in fine health. Ok, I lost my balance last November and fell off a 50' foot cliff and landed on my tailbone. On asphalt. But that's an exception. (Do I have to count the time I fell out of my bed?)

No, there was something that ticked me off to the point where I said, "Why am I doing this?"

I had sent out a posting a while back about how I was looking for a job. I don't want to do IT/MIS anymore. I'm in love with the web. I'm not a coder. I'm not a graphic artist. I'm a concept guy. I develop website strategies and then collaborate with all of the site's stakeholders to develop a finished product. In fact, one of my collaborative designs won the Silver Award for Interactive Design from ID Magazine.

In my Jay/Day posting fantasy, I would have been flooded with emails about possible job openings. I heard nothing. Hey, I know it's a tough world out there, but I've been producing Jay/Day for over 8 years and I was hoping for some sort of informational payback.

I'm in Seattle right now. And I visit Portland often. Both cities have maple bars, which are emblematic of my Pacific Northwestern youth. I want to live/work in one of those two cities.

I loved maintaining Jay/Day, but if if it's always going to be a one-way street, it really takes the heart out of my dedication. Let's just say I'm "fit as a fiddle" and would like to take the summer off while I search for web concept work in Seattle and Portland. I spend so much of my day hunting down job leads and interviewing and writing cover letters, maintaining JayDay started to feel like a burden. And then when I got zero response, I just felt defeated.

I really don't think it's unfair of me, after running this website for over 8-years, to make this request.

If you'd like to really do something for me (hint, hint) after 8 years, get me a digital interview with someone in Seattle or Portland. As you know, I've never had any real talent except to think big thoughts and implement massive systems. Surely those needs exist somewhere?